Withings has been making waves with wearable and lifestyle devices for years now, offering devices like smart scales and fitness trackers that look like analog watches. Apparently Nokia liked what it saw from Withings lately, because it has decided to acquire the wearables maker.
Nokia and Withings today confirmed that Nokia has agreed to acquire Withings for €170 million, or around $192 million USD. The deal is subject to the regulatory approvals and closing conditions, and it’s expected to close in early Q3 2016.
As for what the two companies will do together, Withings says that it’ll be joining the team at Nokia “to build the future of digital health together.” Withings has been focused on helping consumers track and improve their health with devices like the Activité Steel, and it sounds like it’ll continue to focus on health-centric connected devices when it joins Nokia.
“Since we started Withings, our passion has been in empowering people to track their lifestyle and improve their health and wellbeing," said Cédric Hutchings, CEO of Withings. "We're excited to join Nokia to help bring our vision of connected health to more people around the world."
We know that Nokia has expressed interested in creating a smart wearable device, with images of a product codenamed “Moonraker” having leaked last year. That device seems a bit more like a smartwatch than Withings’ wearable devices, but now that it’s acquired Withings, Nokia is getting a company with lots of wearable experience that could help Nokia to actually launch a new wearable device.
